Opal stared at the flickering flame, shadows
dancing on the walls. She smoothed the cover beneath Ryan’s chin, her fingers
brushing against his deathly cold chin. ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and
her love was dying. No magician or healer could save him. The last doctor had
just left, had stolen the last shreds of her hope with him.

She brushed his soft brown hair back. “We were
to be married tomorrow. We were to have lots of children and tend to the fields
and sell our crops. There would have been lean years, but there would have been
strong ones too. Maybe if we had a son, we could have scrapped enough coin for
him to be trained as a knight. We were supposed to have more time together.
More time.”

A tear trickled down her nose and dripped onto
his cheek. She kissed it away and gripped his hand, wishing she was warm
herself to lend him some, but she wore a threadbare dress, and the candle did
not warm the room. A bitter wind howled outside, and the thin walls did not bar
it.

“Remember how we first met?” One of the doctors
had suggested Ryan could still hear her, and ever since, she could not stop
talking to him. His eyes remained closed, his lips a thin blue line. Only his
chest raised and lowered as he labored through each breath. No one knew what
illness had stricken him two weeks ago, but even to her untrained eye, she
could see he neared the end.

“You had come to market, wearing a blue tunic.
It matched your eyes and I could not look away. I was supposed to trade some
corn for beans, and I dropped the corn. I fell to my knees to gather it, and
when I stood, I couldn’t see you anymore. When I finally reached the bean
seller, she had already traded you the last. You overheard me talking to her
and gave me some without a word. And then you left before my tongue could
vocalize my thanks. I feared I would never see you again.”

Fear gripped her heart now, and she struggled to
bury it. Ryan did not need to hear her sorrow. She had to be strong for him, in
this, his last hours. A strong gust of wind blew into the house, easing into
the cracks of the window and extinguishing the flame. Opal had no choice but to
stop touching Ryan to relight the candle. Then she rubbed his frozen cheek, his
stubble tickling her palm.

“Each day after, I snuck back to the market,
hoping to see you. One month. I was almost ready to give up. But then you were
there, and I managed a grunt.” She giggled. “A grunt! You laughed, and I
laughed, and then we started talking and meeting every day. I think I might
have loved the idea of you at first, during that month before we actually
spoke, but then I learned you truly were a good and kind and wonderful person,
and I could not help but truly love you.”

And she always would. But saying that out loud
would feel too much like goodbye, and she wasn’t ready for that, would never be.

“Ryan…” Her voice broke, and she cleared her
throat. Her mouth was dry. Perhaps Ryan’s was as well. It had been some time
since she had tried to coax him to drink.

Carefully, she lifted his head and held a clay
cup to his lips. The water merely trickled down his chin. A towel sopped up the
liquid, and she swallowed the rest of the cup’s contents.

“Christmas two years ago, we said ‘I love you’
for the first time. Last year, you asked me to marry you. We should have gotten
married on that day instead of waiting. Tomorrow…”

She couldn’t finish and hung her head. Another
wind blew against the house, and Opal climbed into bed beside Ryan, beneath the
covers. “I am so sorry you’re sick. I wish it were me instead! I would do
anything for you. I love you, Ryan.”

What she needed was a Christmas miracle.

Her hand pressed against his chest. Her hand
hardly moved up and down.

Love wasn’t enough. Perhaps he couldn’t be
saved, but Opal was willing to try anything, even forbidden magic. Telling Ryan
she had a distant relative who was a witch hadn’t broken his love for her.
Witches and warlocks were banned from using magic, as they were far too
powerful. Magicians only used magic to spread joy and happiness. Healers,
obviously, healed the sick through magical means, when physicians’ medicines
and tonics failed.

From within her boot, Opal produced a dagger.
The blade easily cut through his shirt to reveal his chest. The sharp tip drew
a line against her palm. She did not flinch or hiss despite the pain. An
identical line she traced on his palm. After mixing their blood together, she
touched their wounded hands above his heart.

“Love of my life, the light in my eye, the song
that I sing, you are my everything. On this night, Christmas Eve, do not leave
me. Take my blood, take my strength, take my heart, but do not leave me.”

Two tears, one from each eye, trickled down
Opal’s eyes. Their hands were not moving. Ryan breathed no more.

She had failed. Her Christmas miracle hadn’t come.

Opal closed her eyes. With a sigh, she pressed
her lips to his one last time. Then she laid her head on his chest. The pain in
her heart radiated throughout her body, the cut in her palm agonizing. A
whimper escaped her lips. “Goodbye, Ryan,” she murmured, her voice breaking.

Her head rose, but she hadn’t moved.

“I love you, Opal.”

She slowly sat up. Ryan’s blue eyes were staring
at her, full of love, vigor, and life.

Her Christmas miracle had come true.

“I love—” Opal kissed him several times before
pulling back and tugging on his hand. “Come. We’re going to find the priest and
get married immediately.”

Ryan laughed, the sound strong and hearty.
“Whatever you wish, my love, the air I breathe.”

I love to write romances - fantasy, paranormal, time travels, and Regency; for adults and YA. I don't want to get boxed in by genre -- I might be claustrophobic!
I'm also a freelance editor and an editor at MuseItUp Publishing. Additionally, I am also a ghostwriter.
When I'm not writing about girls wanting to be knights, talking unicorns, or zombies, I love spending time with my loving and growing family. I enjoy riding horses (pretending they're unicorns, of course!) and going to the PA Renaissance Faire, dressed in garb.
Nicole.Zoltack@gmail.com is my email. Feel free to contact me!